Qi Sheng was, of course, familiar with the name Pop Mart.
The leader of the art toy industry, which had relied on blind boxes to build a market cap in the hundreds of billions.
Even though its market value plummeted later, it was still a massive company worth tens of billions.
But now? Pop Mart’s market value was only 1.5 billion.
Even after delisting from the New Third Board in two months, it would only be worth 2 billion.
That might sound like a lot, but compared to Pop Mart’s lowest valuation of over thirty billion, there was still room for a profit of more than ten times that.
Compared to Pop Mart’s peak market cap in the hundreds of billions, the potential return on investment was a staggering 50-fold.
In a way, Pop Mart lived and died by the blind box.
It had built its fortune on blind boxes, so when regulatory policies were later introduced, its market value plummeted accordingly.
Its insufficient development of existing IPs led to a steady decline in market value.
Though the Wang Ning before him was unremarkable in looks and height, his ambition was anything but small.
He wanted to turn Pop Mart into the Disney of China.
Qi Sheng barely suppressed a laugh.
’If it weren’t for his rebirth, he might have actually been taken in by the man’s pitch.’
"Chairman Qi, does this mean you’re not optimistic about our company?"
Wang Ning’s expression soured.
This was the moment Pop Mart was supposed to be taking off.
Otherwise, Pop Mart wouldn’t be delisting from the New Third Board.
A mere 1.5 billion valuation was clearly not enough to satisfy Wang Ning’s ambition.
He wouldn’t go so far as to say Pop Mart’s market cap would break a hundred billion, but it had to be at least ten billion to start.
"President Wang, forgive me for being blunt, but isn’t Molly the only truly profitable IP your company has right now?"
"Your other exclusive and non-exclusive IPs are all limited by contract length and usage rights."
"Otherwise, you wouldn’t be scrambling to launch your own IPs to replace the once wildly popular Sonny Angel."
"Nurturing new IPs takes time. Can you afford to wait?"
Seeing Wang Ning’s defiance, Qi Sheng directly exposed Pop Mart’s biggest problem.
It had a severe lack of proprietary IPs, giving it no economic moat whatsoever.
Art toys are products with no real technical barrier to entry, unlike those from sports giants like Adidas or Nike that have absolute control over their research and development.
There is absolutely no way to monopolize their production.
Just provide a design, and factories in the world’s manufacturing hub, Yiwu, could immediately mass-produce them and flood the market.
At the end of the day, blind boxes simply exploit a user’s gambling mentality and collector’s impulse.
The experience of uncertainty and scarcity during the unboxing process is what plants the seeds for repeat purchases.
In essence, it’s no different from collecting cards in snack packages, a craze that once swept the nation, or pulling for SSR-rank rare cards in online games.
Given the "soft gambling" nature of Pop Mart’s blind boxes, it was inevitable that they would be singled out for criticism by the authorities.
Even if the Molly IP is a huge hit, how can the blind boxes possibly appreciate in value when millions of units are sold every year?
With no room for appreciation, customers won’t spend big money on blind boxes to gamble for the rare figures.
’And you want to be the Disney of China relying on just one IP?’
’Fat chance!’
"I..."
Wang Ning was at a loss for words. He understood all this.
His success up to this point was largely a case of being in the right place at the right time.
He was the one who took the plunge when no one else in China had yet noticed the blind box market.
"President He, I’m not feeling well. If you’ll excuse me."
Wang Ning knew Qi Sheng’s net worth was astounding; he wasn’t someone he could afford to provoke right now.
But he had a temper, too. There was no reason for him to just sit there and take this humiliation.
"President Wang, I only said a few words of truth. You can’t handle that?"
Seeing Wang Ning about to leave, Qi Sheng felt a flicker of contempt for him.
’No wonder the system only rated him as Elite Level talent.’
’He was dealt a perfect hand, and he still managed to play it into a complete mess.’
"Chairman Qi, if you have something more to say, then just say it. I’m not that thin-skinned."
Seeing He Yu frantically signaling him with his eyes, Wang Ning reluctantly sat back down.
Seeing that Wang Ning was still defiant, Qi Sheng continued, tearing away the man’s last fig leaf.
"In my opinion, President Wang, you are narrowly reducing the concept of ’Chinese art toys’ to the singular model of ’Chinese blind boxes.’"
"By definition, art toys are either products based on IPs from comics, animation, and film, or they are art toys created by artists and designers."
"When it comes to art toys based on film and television IPs, Disney is the undisputed king."
"But look at Disney’s resources. Then look at Pop Mart’s."
"Disney acquires film and comic book companies and builds physical Disneyland parks."
"You can’t even begin to compare to that kind of power."
Even Wang Ning had to admit that Qi Sheng was right.
Turning Pop Mart into the Disney of China was his greatest dream.
It was just a pity that his abilities couldn’t support such a grand vision.
"Chairman Qi, anyone can state the obvious. Don’t tell me you have a way for Pop Mart to surpass Disney?"
Wang Ning scoffed, his annoyance with Qi Sheng having clearly been building for some time.
"Yes, I do."
Qi Sheng didn’t hesitate in the slightest. ’It’s just a matter of throwing an insane amount of money at the problem.’
’With the talent provided by the system, I can recruit dozens of top-tier experts.’
’I’ll have them create original Chinese comics and animated films, then throw money at building physical theme parks.’
’Then I’ll create synergy between the film, comics, and art toy industries.’
’Building a Chinese version of Disney would be a piece of cake.’
Qi Sheng didn’t lack money.
He certainly didn’t lack talent.
With both at his disposal, all he needed was time.
"Uh..."
Wang Ning hadn’t expected Qi Sheng to be so confident.
"Well then, I wish you success in achieving that grand goal sooner rather than later!"
Even though Wang Ning couldn’t stand Qi Sheng, he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of respect for someone who shared the same dream.
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